Trump says Gazans ‘very hungry’ as US envoy Witkoff arrives to inspect food distribution centres
Palestinians condemn visit as political theatre
US President Donald Trump has lamented the aid situation in Gaza before sending two top White House officials to the enclave to inspect food distribution centres amid intensifying global scrutiny over the hunger crisis there.
US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff arrived on Friday at a controversial US-backed food aid distribution site in Rafah, Israeli and American media reported.
Mr Witkoff and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will “secure a plan to deliver more food and meet local Gazans to hear first-hand about this dire situation” during the trip, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
President Trump on Thursday described the situation in Gaza as “terrible” amid Israeli claims of “no starvation policy” in the enclave.
“It's terrible what's occurring there. It's a terrible thing. People are very hungry,” Mr Trump told reporters. “You know, the United States gave $60 million for food and it's a shame, because I don't see the results of it. And we gave it to people that in theory are watching over it fairly closely. We wanted Israel to watch over it.”
Mr Witkoff will brief President Trump after the visit to “approve a final plan for food and aid distribution into the region”, said Ms Leavitt.
'Putting on a show'
Many Palestinians see the US envoy’s visit as little more than political theatre.
“Maybe he should come every day, at least then we’d be assured that people won’t be killed or humiliated,” said Khaled Foad, 40, who was displaced to Mawasi in Khan Younis after his home in the Al Zahraa neighbourhood was destroyed.
“Let the people benefit from this 'show'. Even women haven’t been safe from [the Israeli army's] violence, and now they’re pretending to treat people with kindness.”
At least 1,373 Palestinians have been killed while waiting for aid in the famine-stricken enclave, most of them by Israeli forces, since the inception of the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in May, the UN agency's office for the Palestinian territories said on Friday.
Awoni Salah, a 50-year-old Gazan echoed Mr Foad's sentiments.
“The visit of Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, to the American aid distribution centres is a show,” he said. “Today there is no repression, no pepper spray, no gunfire, no casualties.
“If you want to know the truth, just let international journalists into Gaza. It's as simple as that. Let him [Mr Witkoff] visit one of Gaza’s hospitals, then he’ll see the reality for himself.”
Mr Witkoff arrived in Israel on Thursday, before he and Mr Huckabee had a “very productive meeting” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials about delivering food and aid to Gaza, Ms Leavitt said.
The death toll from Israel’s military campaign has surpassed 60,100, and images of starving children in Gaza have fuelled anger and concern in many western countries, including the US.
Earlier this week, President Trump admitted for the first time that “real starvation” was taking place across Gaza.
“I see it and you can’t fake that,” he said. “We have to get the kids fed.”
German minister meets hostages' families
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also arrived in Israel on Thursday on a trip to try to convince Israeli counterparts to allow in more aid.
On Friday, Mr Wadephul met the families of seven German-Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the German Embassy in Tel Aviv.
“The terrorist organisation Hamas is still holding hostages, and despite all efforts at negotiation, is not willing to release them,” the embassy said in a post on social media.
“We think of Rom Breslavsky, Tamir Adar, Gali and Ziv Berman, Itay Chen, Tamir Nimrodi and Alon Ohel, who have been held captive in Gaza for 665 days,” the statement read.
Mr Wadephul signalled on Thursday that Germany may be reconsidering its position on Israel and Gaza, amid UN reports of famine spreading in the Strip.
Israel is increasingly finding itself in a “minority position”, Mr Wadephul warned in a statement issued before his visit.
He will travel on Friday to the occupied West Bank to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced last week that his country, a heavyweight in the EU, plans to recognise a Palestinian state, becoming the first major western nation to do so.
Britain and Canada have since said they could also do so.
Israel's refusal to end the war in Gaza and its starvation policy in the Palestinian territory have made it more isolated than ever.
Mr Witkoff's visit follows the imposition of US sanctions on members of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
Washington accused the PA and PLO of “continuing to support terrorism”, supporting international legal cases against Israel and “undermining prospects for peace”, the US State Department said on Thursday.
The State Department did not immediately release a list of the officials named in the sanctions, who will be denied US visas.
Palestinian officials told The National the sanctions against the Palestinian Authority and the PLO were punishment for seeking an end to Israel’s occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state.